HOUSE rmcH 295 



because its form of growth provides snug nesting sites and its numer- 

 ous sharp needles discourage predators. Knight also found a nest 

 at the unusual height of 35 feet in a Carolina poplar, where it was 

 situated in a cup-shaped depression in the broken end of a vertical 

 limb, surrounded by a circle of erect branches. 



Old oriole nests are frequently used by the house finches, according 

 to Willard and others, and in California nests of the black phoebe 

 are often appropriated, a layer of new material being added in some, 

 at least. Harold M. Holland (1923) relates one instance in which 

 the linnets did not wait for the phoebe's nest to be vacated, but 

 alternated with the rightful owners in the deposition of eggs until 

 the nest contained six eggs of the phoebe and five of the house finch, 

 after which it was deserted by both pairs. In two different years 

 Wilson C. Hanna (1933) found a recently built phoebe's nest occupied 

 by linnets, while the phoebe had rebuilt a few feet away, the location 

 in both years being under a bridge. D.I. Shephardson (1915) cites 

 instances of the invasion of newly built or occupied nests of Arizona 

 hooded orioles, cliff swallows, and black phoebes. That the house 

 finch may occasionally assume the role of benefactor rather than that 

 of usurper is indicated by the observations of Alfred M. Bailey and 

 Robert J. Niedrach (1936) in Denver: 



Two instances of Western Robins {Turdus migratorius propinquus) and House 

 Finches {Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis) using the same nests have come to our 

 attention during the past three years. In May, 1934, we were informed that 

 House Finches were feeding young robins in a nest on a front porch in east Den- 

 ver, Colorado. On investigation we found four half-grown robins, two newly 

 hatched finches and four finch eggs. There were two female finches apparently 

 with the same mate, and the three finches and the two adult robins fed the young 

 regularly. Unfortunately, however, the large robins smothered their small nest 

 mates. We did not determine whether the four remaining eggs hatched. All 

 three adult House Finches fed the young robins in the nest, and after the young 

 had left the nest. 



On May 15, 1936, in a similar instance, the nest was on the back porch of 

 Bailey's home, 2540 Colorado Blvd., Denver. The young robins were nearly 

 ready to leave the nest, and there was no evidence that the pair of House Finches 

 had laid eggs. However, both adult finches and robins fed the young regularly. 

 The male finch was particularly solicitous and would alight on a wire a few feet 

 from the nest and sing whenever one of the other birds brought food. The 

 young robins left the nest May 20, and the finches were the only ones noted 

 feeding them from that time on, although the adult robins were about and no 

 doubt shared the responsibility. 



The building of the nest is accomplished by the female with little or 

 no practical assistance from her mate, who, however, follows solicit- 

 ously and lightens her labors with song. The materials used of course 

 vary according to the resom'ces of the locahty, but the nests observed 

 by the writer in southern California were composed principally of 

 slender, dry stems, often with smaU leaves attached. In this partic- 



